Full-Circle Moment: Cara Stevens helps to spark an interest in writing

By John Sanders, Playa Vista Staff Writer

Lifelong author and marketing specialist Cara Stevens returned to Playa Vista with her husband after the two spent years in New York. The empty nesters set back out for the seaside community in what Stevens describes as a “full circle.”

“What drew us here then still holds true today; Playa is a vibrant, welcoming community where it’s easy to connect, make friends and feel at home,” Stevens said. “As someone who has spent my career helping people harness the power of writing to build their businesses and share their expertise, I’m excited to introduce my new book, ‘Write, Teach, Spark: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Book That Matters.’

“It’s designed for professionals, small business owners and creatives who want to use writing — whether a book, thought leadership content or strategic business communication — to enhance their reputation and expand their opportunities. It’s more than a step-by-step guide to writing a book, it will help owners market their businesses to empower, inspire and engage people who will see them as trustworthy.”

The book, set for a spring release, was years in the making. At one point, she had ideas for a local magazine with a similar goal.

“I wanted to inform people about the happenings in their neighborhoods, but I recognized early on that owners did not want to pay to talk about their businesses — they didn’t want to pay for ads,” Stevens said.

“These small businesses wanted potential customers and audiences to know more about their services. To help with this, I attended a Small Business Association and found a mentor through SCORE. Through this and my mentor’s help, I communicated with businesses and learned specifically about their inquiries. I knew more than I realized after all these years of splitting my time between being a children’s author, book coach, editor and doing ad sales.”

Eventually, Stevens spoke with a representative from Gatekeeper Press, an independent book publisher.

“They provide services to help people publish books they’ve written, and after talking to their marketing director, he offered to sponsor me and publish my book,” Stevens said.

“Instead of me paying for the independent publishing portion, they will do so and distribute it for free as proof of concept for the work they do. It’s a true collaboration and partnership where they’ll use this book as a group concept for their audience, helping them figure out how to write a book that matters.”

Stevens’s last book, “Picture Perfect: An insider’s guide to writing picture books,” was an Amazon self-published work that Stevens was prepared to write. She released over 85 packaged children’s books.

“I held a workshop on writing a picture book because I work with first-time authors on picture books, nonfiction books and even general fiction,” Stevens said.

“I’ve produced packaged books for children and young readers based on licensed properties from Nickelodeon, Disney and Dr. Seuss. You can reach children and turn them into lifelong readers by writing stories, workbooks, activity books and coloring books. These books are entry points for them to become excited about reading.”

Stevens said that a central issue she sees with many writers is struggling to put words on the page. She explained that once an author releases a work, it’s no longer solely theirs, but also the audience’s.

“When someone reads a book, they’re reading it for themselves, and when a writer first picks up a pen or opens up a document on their computer, they’re writing to express something,” Stevens said.

“The biggest hurdle is getting that first draft on the page, and it’s not reader-focused; you’re just transforming all your thoughts and ideas onto the page and we call that a ‘zero draft.’ After that, you start thinking about who your audience is, how to bring them in and see themselves in what they’re reading.”

Ultimately, this is Stevens’ passion, as she said she enjoys seeing this talent blossom within people.

“My purpose in everything I do is to help people achieve their dreams of becoming writers and expressing themselves,” Stevens said.

For more information about “Write, Teach, Spark: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Book That Matters,” visit writeteachspark.com.
Visit carajstevens.com to view other works by Cara Stevens.